Comments for Why is the left hand more dominant in kendo???

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Aug 13, 2009
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starstarstarstarstar 		Great!
by: Val Serezhkin

Horse version is great! I totally agree.
Aug 12, 2009
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starstarstarstarstar 		Right Brain Left Brain
by: Erdal

Here is my idea:

Since the left hand is controlled by the right brain, and right brain is about intuition and creative/holistic thinking, at the time of a duel, this might be important.

Just holding the sword with the left hand might make you faster in seme/response because left hand is directly tied to your intuitive side.

But ideas are ideas. The most important thing is that throughout hundreds of years and paying the price of blood, the art of kendo has been developed.

Those styles which survived are the styles which their adopters survived. Any style proves its strength by the results one gets I think. The sensei do the left hand style and they get the results.

Kendo-Guide.Com: Thank you for your comment. I like what you said, ?The most important thing is that throughout hundreds of years and paying the price of blood, the art of kendo has been developed.? Could not agree more. Thanks!
Aug 06, 2009
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starstarstarstarstar 		Why the left waist?
by: Val Serezhkin

I am not sure why samurai carried their swords on the left waist. It is just my guess.

I used to serve in military police, so we carried the rubber tonfa on the left waist as it is faster way to draw it from the holder which you fix with the left hand and hit the enemy with the right hand.

The same in iaido. First cut, right out of saya with the right hand, the left one is fixed on saya. Then you can use both hands. That is the answer, I think. I might be mistaken.

Kendo-Guide.Com: Another interesting post. Thank you. Why do you think the military police carry their tonfa on their left waist? Does anyone carry theirs on their right waist because they are left-handed?

Why did samurai start carrying their swords on their left waist? Apparently if you were born to a samurai family and were left-handed, you would have been forced to be right-handed.
Aug 06, 2009
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starstarstarstarstar 		Carrying Sword on Left Side
by: John M

It's common for students to raise this point. And various explanations have been given.
I certainly like the response provided even if it's not 'historically proven' - it does provide an interesting explanation.

I have been thinking of this for some time and this is total speculation on my part. We know that at the beginning, samurai, very early in Japanese history, fought for the most part on horses (actually bow was more prominent than sword, I have read ? see Karl Friday?s important study).

Now it's almost universal, you mount a horse on the left side. So if you carry your sword on the right side, it would cause a problem in mounting the horse. But if the sword is carried on the left side, and after inserting your left foot in the stirrup and then lifting your right leg over to mount mounting is quite easy but, if the sword was on your right it causes a problem. But carrying the sword on the left side provides for a clean mount.

And my additional guess is that, given its almost universal that mounting is done of the left side of the horse, (I?m speculating of course) that it has something to do with the horse?s brain physiology. It?s only a guess but you have to ask why this is universal in almost all places. So what drives the placement of the sword is our equestrian practices, I?m guessing.

Kendo-Guide.Com: Thanks for your comment. Nice! I like thinking this kind of mysterious stuff :)

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